{"id":30919,"date":"2010-01-14T15:37:50","date_gmt":"2010-01-14T21:37:50","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.uscho.com\/2010\/01\/14\/this-week-in-atlantic-hockey-jan-14-2010\/"},"modified":"2010-08-17T19:57:50","modified_gmt":"2010-08-18T00:57:50","slug":"this-week-in-atlantic-hockey-jan-14-2010","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/wp-admin.uscho.com\/2010\/01\/14\/this-week-in-atlantic-hockey-jan-14-2010\/","title":{"rendered":"This Week in Atlantic Hockey: Jan. 14, 2010"},"content":{"rendered":"
The top three teams in Atlantic Hockey returned to winning ways last weekend, as the the league left most of its non-conference games behind and got down to crunch time. The sight from the rear-view mirror isn’t pretty — the league has gone 8-43-5 out of conference this season, with just five non-league games left.<\/p>\n
Home cooking was a key factor in the top teams rebounding: Mercyhurst got back on track with a 7-2, 5-3 home sweep of American International; Air Force took three of four points from Connecticut in a pair of close contents in Colorado Springs; and in Rochester, RIT continued its domination of Holy Cross with a 5-2, 2-0 sweep. The Tigers are now 14-1-1 against the Crusaders since joining Atlantic Hockey.<\/p>\n
RIT is riding a 12-game unbeaten streak in conference play and is tied with Air Force for second place. Both teams trail first-place Mercyhurst by a point, but the Tigers have the advantage with four games in hand on both the Lakers and Falcons. <\/p>\n
“This was a nice bounce back weekend for us,” said RIT coach Wayne Wilson. “But it’s a long 14 games to go. We talk about those four games in hand, but if you lose one, all of a sudden you’re down to three games in hand. It disappears quickly.”<\/p>\n
Player of the Week for Jan. 11, 2010:
\nBrandon Coccimiglio — Mercyhurst<\/b><\/p>\n
Coccimiglio had a five-point weekend to lead the Lakers to a sweep of American International. He had a natural hat trick an an assist in Friday’s 7-2 win, and tacked on an assist in Saturday’s 5-3 victory. <\/p>\n
Goalie of the Week for Jan. 11, 2010:
\nJared DeMichiel — RIT<\/b><\/p>\n
The senior goaltender stopped 46 of 48 shots to help the Tigers to a sweep of Holy Cross. DeMichiel recorded his second career shutout on Saturday, stopping all 22 shots he faced. He’s currently 10-2-1, with a 1.69 goals-against average and .935 save percentage in AHA play.<\/p>\n
Co-Rookie of the Week for Jan. 11, 2010:
\nSteven Legatto — Sacred Heart<\/b><\/p>\n
Legatto wins the award for the second week in a row, although this time he has to share. The goaltender stopped 63 of 66 shots as the Pioneers took three points from Army. He stopped all 30 shots he faced on Saturday for his first career shutout. <\/p>\n
Co-Rookie of the Week for Jan. 11, 2010:
\nJoe Campanelli — Bentley<\/b><\/p>\n
The rookie from Pierrefond, Quebec, had a five-point weekend (three goals, two assists). Campanelli is second among all rookies in Atlantic Hockey with 16 points on the season.<\/p>\n
Air Force goaltender Andrew Volkening played in his 111th career game on Friday, setting a school record. <\/p>\n
“I think he’s the best player ever to play in the program,” Air Force coach Frank Serratore said. “I mean, when you see what he’s done — he’s won four championship games, he’s been the all-tournament goalie in three NCAA tournaments, he’s been the all-regional goalie. We’ve had three All-Americans in the last three years, but the last two years he’s been our team MVP.”<\/p>\n
Canisius junior forward Cory Conacher extended his scoring streak to 10 games last weekend, recording four points in a split with Bentley, including the game winning goal on Saturday with 2:40 remaining in the contest. Conacher is currently second in the nation with 1.55 points per game, and first in Division I with four game-winners.<\/p>\n
Holy Cross’ power play is providing almost all of its offense lately. Eleven of the Crusaders’ last 13 goals have come with the man advantage. All five of the Holy Cross goals in four games with RIT this season were on the power play. <\/p>\n
When freshman goaltender Jeff Larson left school after the first semester, Connecticut didn’t skip a beat, welcoming Garret Bartus, who arrived after the holidays from the St. Louis Bandits of the NAHL. Bartus played well last weekend, holding Air Force to four goals. <\/p>\n
“He made some great saves tonight that kept us in the game,” UConn coach Bruce Marshall said. “We’ve been having breakdowns the last couple weeks where it’s a shot here, a missed defensive play there, but when you start getting saves, it starts allowing you to do other things.”<\/p>\n